


Foundations of Translation©
CIOL Diploma in Translation (DipTrans) online preparatory course

Course Overview
Foundations of Translation (FOT)© is an online course designed to prepare candidates for the CIOL DipTrans. It is aimed at:
- language graduates that want to become translators
- language professionals (teachers, interpreters) that wish to switch to translation or combine both professions for an extra income stream.
The course is delivered at Master level, and students are expected to have a high command of their foreign language, between C1-C2 level (CEFR), as well as an excellent command of their native language.
The course is delivered over 10 months. This will allow for ample time for consultations and exam revision to guarantee a successful exam result.
The course consists of 6 core modules, detailed in the table below. Students should expect a significant update for the 2022 version of the course.

Course modules
Module 0: Introduction
- Welcome to the course
- Suggested Reading
Module 1: Translation Theory
- What translation is
- Why translation theory is about
- Language functions, text-categories, and text-types
- Speech act theory
- Implicatures and presuppositions
Module 2: Translation Methods and Techniques
- Translation methods: word-for-word, literal, faithful, adaptation, etc.
- Translation techniques: borrowing, calque, naturalisation, etc.
Module 3: Translation Problems and Strategic Solutions
- Levels of translation
- Translation of lexis
- Improvement of a text
- How to build a glossary/ terminological database
Module 4: The DipTrans
- Exam overview
- The exam marking crieria
Module 5: Translation Practice
- Translation of a General Text (U1)
- Technical Translation (U2)
- Business Translation (U2)
- Literary Translation (U2)
- Scientific Translation (U3)
- Translation in the Social Sciences (U3)
- Legal Translation (U3)
Avaliable languages
Foundations of Translation© is taught in English. It prepares candidates for the DipTrans in many language combinations with English as the source or the target language.
As a professional course, NO foreign language is taught. The student is expected to have acquired the language at Mastery Level, that is, at C1-C2 level from the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
So far, Foundations of Translation© has been taught in the following languages. If your language pair is not listed here, contact us to discuss your requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following are some of the frequently asked questions from previous candidates. If you cannot find your question here, please contact us!
Our FOT team
Carina Balbo

Course director and tutor
English-Spanish and Spanish-English
Katrin Frahm

Course tutor
English>German
Mihaela Patrascu

Course tutor
English>Romanian
Chris Humphries

Course tutor
French-German-Danish-Norwegian-Swedish>English
Start date: w/c 05 September 2022
Enrolment details on MLH Academy
for exam series: July 2023